Improvement in centrifugal machines



*i 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

S. S. HEPWORTH.

Centrifugal-Machine.

No. 217,689.A .Patented July 22,1879. QQ? 7.

2Sheets-Sheat 2. S. S. HEPWORTH.

Centrifugal-Machine.

No. 217,689. Patented July 22,1879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEETcE,

SAMUEL S. HEPWORTH, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES.

Specification forming part of `Letters Patent No. 217,689, (lated July22, 1879; application filed June 17, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, SAMUEL S. HEPWORTH, of Yonkers, in the county ofVestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Oentrifu gal Machines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, whereby aperson skilled in the art can make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying' drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

Like letters in the figures indicate the sam parts My improvementrelates to such centrifugal machines as are ordinarily used for theseparation of sugar from its sirup, but more particularly to those whichare supported and driven from below the basket.

Heretofore the valves in the baskets of centrifugal machines have beenmade to open and close by rotating or by a vertical movement, and havegenerally been placed in the When placed underneath the basket they havebeen of such construction as to become clogged by the discharged sugar,and have required access to the space below the basket to operate them.

The object of my invention is to provide a valve sliding radially underthe bottom of the basket with mechanism for operating it from above, sothat while it is in the best position for the discharge of the drainedsugar, or other contents of the basket, it cannot become clogged orinterfere with the free di'scharge of the sugar, nor require accesstothe space below the basket.

My invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the severalparts that will be hereinafter described.

In .the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a bottom View of the basketof a centrifugal machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a verticalcross-section of the basket upon the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is avertical cross-section of the working parts of the valve upon the line 33 of Fig. l.

A is the basket of a centrifugal machine. B is the spindle b y which itis supported and from which it receives its motion. C is a yoke, keyedor otherwise attached to the spindle B, and extending upward upon eachside ofthe valve to the bottom of the basket, which it serves tosupport.

D and D are sliding valves, which cover the openings E and E in thebot-tom of the basket. They slide in and out from the center, and whenthey are drawn inward they uncover the openings E and E', so that thesugar contained in the basket can be discharged.

F F are channels or grooves, formed by longitudinal pieces bolted uponthe bottom of the basket, in which the outer edges of the valves move toretain them in their proper positions.

G G are arms, in the form of loops, extending back from the valves. Uponone side of the interior edge they are furnished with racks H H', whichengage upon opposite sides of a central pinion, I. The opposite side ofthe interior edge of L the arm is made smooth, and runs upon the pointsof the leaves of the pinion, so as to hold the rack and pinion together.

The end of the arm is made of such a form as to strike against thepinion and stop the valve at the proper point to close the opening inthe bottom of the basket.

The arms Gland G run one above the other, and are guided above by thebottoln of the basket, and below by a stop or collar upon the centralspindle.

The pinion I is Xed upon a sleeve, J, which turns upon the centralspindle, and which is operated by the hand-Wheel K at its upper end.

The operation of my improvement is as follows: The basket of thecentrifugal machine is supposed to be charged and operated in the usualmanner. When it is desired to discharge the contained sugar, thehand-wheel K is turned so as to draw the valves inward until the motionis stopped by the valves coming in contact with the pinion, or any othersuitable stop to limit the motion of the valve. The sugar is thendischarged in the usual manner. To again close the valves, thehand-wheel K is turned back in the opposite direction to that of openingthe valves until the motion is stopped by the loops of the arms comingin contact with the pinion. The machine is then ready to be againcharged with sugar to be drained.

What I claim as my invention issleeve J, and hand-wheel K, whereby thevalve I. In a centrifugal machine, radially-sliding is operatedradially, substantially as and for valves under the bottom of thebasket, in comthe purpose described. bination with mechanism foroperating them, substantially as described. SAMUEL S HEPWORTU 2. In acentrifugal machine, one or more Witnesses:

valves placed below the basket, provided with T. H. MLLER, the rack H,in combination with the pinion I, THEO. G. ELLIS.

